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Denver
The Mile High City, dubbed as such for it's exactly one mile elevation from sea level, is located east of the Rocky Mountains in the county of Colorado in the U.S.A. and also functions as the county's capital city. The 105th western line of longitude passes through the town, thus it is also the center of the Mountain Time Zone (MTZ). Being amongst the thirty most populated cities in the US, Denver has an approximate populace of 600000 people. The city itself was founded by miners during the gold rush, in the middle of the 19th century. Location The city itself is located east of the Rocky Mountains and Salt Lake City, in the crossing of route 25 (passing through North to South), route 70 (from West to East) and with route 70 coming in from the North-East, just slightly North East of the center of the state of Colorado. It is in the middle of a "blank spot" of approximately 600 mile in radius from the city center without any other major cities. The city's total size is 154.9 square miles according to the US Census Bureau. Climate The county's climate in general is continental and semi-arid. Even though the location is basically on the Great Plains, the local weather is influenced by the closeness of mountain areas. This influence creates a middle ground between the Great Plains and the Rockies, with the weather thus being generally lighter, yet more unpredictable. As most of Denver has been built into a slight depression in the ground level of the surrounding area, it is generally shielded from the extremities of weather, though not making it exempt from snow in winter. The average temperature is 10.1 degrees centigrade, with yearly average rainfall being about 400 mm. Populace The town's current population of approximately 600000 people has been in steady increase from it's creation to the 1970s, when after a sudden drop, the number of people began to increase steadily once more up to today. The current population is made up of mostly white Americans, with major ethnic groups being of African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans and Americans from the Pacific. Other minorities make up approximately 10 percent of the populace. About 70% of residents speak English, with the second most spoken tongue being Spanish. The average age of residents is fairly young at 33, with about 20% of the total population being under the age of 18, with an approximately centerline division in gender, Economy As discussed above, the city is in the crossroads of major routes, and in the middle of a large fairly barren area, thus being the basis for the majority of local economy. Denver is a major logistics center with storage and distribution facilities in abundance, being the only major city of it's magnitude in the vicinity, it's an obvious choice for most major companies to distribute merchandise in the county to smaller settlements, or simply a place to integrate into the distribution grid for transit oriented enterprises. For the exact same geographical reasons government presence is strong, with the offices and bureaus for nearby areas all concentrating in the city. This of course brought about the presence of different US national defense and space projects. It is home to the Denver Federal Center, the Denver Mint, the National Renewable Energy Kaboratory and the ex-nuclear weapons plant, Rocky Flats. Next to the above of course the closeness of the Rockies and it's mineral resources attracts the mining industry. A boom in high-tech industry in the 1990s helped Denver achieve it's incredibly low unemployment rate, approximately 4% of the total population being unemployed. Currently real estate business and development is one of the major focus of the local economy, with several skyscrapers set to finish in the 2010s. Transportation Local transportation is mainly handled by buses and light rails, with the local transportation company, Regional Transportation District (RTD), serving the public with some 1000 buses and 5 light rail lines along the city. Inter-city transportation is handled by both buses and trains of Amtrak or it's subsidiaries. With Denver having been a major hub for transportation via train back in the early days, it's still a quite significant junction. The signs of such a busy past are visible all through Denver Union station. Air traffic in the area is also fairly significant, with the fairly new Denver International Airport (Callsign DIA) which has been in use since the decommissioning of Stapleton International Airport in 1995. DIA is one of the busiest airports in not only the US, but the entire world. Education The school system in Denver is run by Denver Public Schools, an organization with it's roots firmly in the past, as it is the same organization that opened the first school in the area, which was still in a log cabin in the middle of the 18th century. The city has every kind of institution imaginable from elementary schools to colleges, to private universities, even catering to varying religious beliefs, with Jewish and Roman Catholic institutions, with varying study programs, even having a school dedicated to health sciences. Perhaps the most prestigious institutions of higher education in the city itself are three private ones, University of Denver, Johnson and Wales University, Catholic Regis University and three public ones, University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Community College of Denver. Sports Denver boasts of being one of only three cities in the entire US that has sports teams in all 8 national sports leagues in varying sports arenas. Invesco Field: Home of Denver Broncos (NFL, National Football League) and Denver Outlaws (Outdoor Lacrosse - Major League) Coors Field: Home of Colorado Rockies (NL, National League) Baseball Pepsi Center: Home of Colorado Avalanches (NHL, National Hockey League), the Denver Nuggets (NBA, National Basketball Association), the Colorado Mammoth (NLL, National Lacrosse League) and the Colorado Crush (AFL, Arena Football League) Dick's Sporting Goods Park: Home of Colorado Rapids (Major League Soccer) Current Issues City celebrates Adaptive Reuse: Buildings with a Second Life with Doors Open Denver 2010 Mayor Hickenlooper appoints Rivera-Malpiede to RTD Board of Directors Denver’s multi-use trails to get a makeover